Last week the preliminary heats were held with the favourites reigning supreme in three of the races, but a few surprise roughies stepping up to fill the minor placings ahead of their higher seeded rivals.

The top 10 pacers at the end of the night will get their chance at the $1million final on Sunday March 7 at Menangle.

ID10 Heat 5:

The first Qualifying heat this Saturday night sees last week’s Heat 1 winner Atomic Arc jump from barrier four. Atomic Ark caused the upset of the preliminary heats when the $25.70 outsider narrowly beat home the $2.50 favourite Changeover by a half neck with I Am Sam ($8.70) in third.

Despite their win last week, the Natalie Rasmussen-trained gelding looks outclassed this week and will need a whole lot of luck to finish in the top two and move on to the final.

Atomic Arc faces some strong competitors including the Barastoc Grand Circuit winner Washakie who ran second to Bondy in heat four last week. Prepared and driven by John McCarthy, Washakie has drawn wide for Saturday’s run starting from barrier ten.

Others to watch in the first heat this week include the Lance Justice-trained Smoken Up, drawn ideally in barrier two and Mark Peace’s Cincinnati Kid.

The talented Smoken Up ran third to Blacks A Fake last week while it was a slightly disappointing finish Cincinnati Kid in the third preliminary heat when they ran a well beaten fifth to Monkey King.

Smoken Up is likely to start as the favourite in the opening heat and his blessed barrier two start should be a breeze in comparison to his inside back row draw last week.

ID10 Heat 6:

Lining up in the nine-horse second Qualifying heat on Saturday night is the stunning winner of heat 4 last week, the David Butt trained and driven Bondy. The Live Or Die gelding has won 22 of his 41 career starts and has displayed impressive recent form winning his past three successive races. The Hunter Cup winner Bondy has drawn ideally in barrier two.

Bondy currently sits second on the ID10 points tally with 15.

Starting on the outside of the sure to be favourite is the Keith Cotchin-trained five-year-old Tanabi Bromac in barrier three. The classy Victorian, currently ranked equal ninth with 10 points, ran a crafty third in their heat last week behind the overall ID10 points’ leader Monkey King, and will be ridden on Saturday by champion reinsman Greg Sugars who replaces Gavin Lang.

Other in-form pacers engaged in the 9:00pm heat include the consistent Changeover in barrier six and Gavin Lang’s Sammy Maguire in barrier four.

ID10 Heat 7:

The third heat this Saturday sees the gifted Monkey King starting from barrier three. Monkey King is currently the highest ranked Inter Dominion contender with 17 points and the odds-on favourite to take out the 2010 series. The Sands A Flyin gelding looks well positioned to lead all the way on Saturday night as his brilliant barrier draw and sensational gate speed should see him hit the front early.

Victorian I Am Sam is also running in the 9:30pm heat and has drawn well in barrier two. The giant Alan Tubbs trained pacer ran third last week behind Atomic Ark and Changeover but faces a tough field this round.

Drawn on the far outside in barrier ten is Karloo Mick while Our Awesome Armbro, a runner-up last week, stands a solid chance after securing barrier one.

ID10 Heat 8:

The final heat at Harold Park this Saturday features another star studded field, headlined by Blacks A Fake. Trainer-driver Natalie Rasmussen will be aboard the Fake Left gelding for the second-round following their success in the second heat last week. Blacks A Fake is seeking their fifth consecutive victory, but has drawn wide with barrier nine.

The other quality runner in the 10:00pm heat is Mr. Feelgood in barrier five, but no matter what the quality of rivals, they will have a hard time defeating the three time Inter Dominion champion Blacks A Fake.

The four second round Heats for the 2010 Inter Dominion are scheduled as races four (8:30pm), five (9:00pm), six (9:30pm) and seven (10:00pm) on Saturday night’s bumper nine-race programme.

WATPAC 2010 Inter Dominion Championship Qualifying Heat 5:

WATPAC 2010 Inter Dominion Championship Qualifying Heat 6:

WATPAC 2010 Inter Dominion Championship Qualifying Heat 7:

WATPAC 2010 Inter Dominion Championship Qualifying Heat 8:

Four $40, 000 heats for the prestigious series will run and feature star-studded fields packed full of the nation’s most impressive and elite pacers.

All the big names will be there with Heat 1 looking to be the event of the night featuring I Am Sam drawn well in barrier one; the super consistent Karloo Mick in barrier three; in-form pacer Changeover in barrier six aiming for their fourth win from six starts; and the brilliant American-bred colt Mr Feelgood out wide in gate ten.

The second heat will be another hotly contested affair with the Natalie Rasmussen trained and driven star Blacks A Fake in barrier four coming off three successive wins; the Gavin Lang’s classy Sammy Maguire in barrier seven; and the prolific Lance Justice trained Smoken Up in the back row barrier eight.

Heat three sees the fantastic New Zealand pacer Monkey King (br.4) come up against the likes of Cincinnati Kid (br.5) and Tanabi Bromac (br.6) in a top class front row full of in-form runners in for a real chance not only in this heat but the series overall.

Finishing off with Heat 4, punters have another thrilling matchup on their hands with John McCarthy’s Washakie in barrier seven, the consistently good Bondy drawn well in barrier two and other great pacers including Western Cam in barrier five fighting it out to qualify for the next round.

The 2010 Watpac Inter Dominion Championship heats will run as races 4 – 7 on the meeting’s fantastic nine race programme and will commence at 8:00pm (NSW time).

Run over a testing 3065m this coveted standing start event has a capacity field of 14 elite pacers set to line up on the night and includes an abundance of big name players such as Mr Feelgood, Smoken Up, I Am Sam and Karloo Mick.

Trained and driven by Lance Justice, Smoken Up is one of the most experienced and formidable pacers in the final. The Tinted Cloud gelding is looking to return to winning form after three successive second placings but has been allocated a disappointing second-line draw with barrier 10.

The closest Smoken Up has come to a Hunter Cup victory was as runner-up by a mere half-head to Blacks A Fake two years back in 2008.

Victoria Cup victor Bettors Strike, despite drawing poorly with barrier 13, has been installed as the odds-on favourite for the race. Smoken Up occupies the next line of betting.

I Am Sam was runner up in the Hunter Cup last year and has drawn well with barrier four for this year.

But the big winner in the barrier draw was the Barry Lew-trained Karloo Mick, allocated the cherished barrier one.

Three of the best in-form pacers have all drawn poorly in the final. The John McCarthy-trained WA Pacing Cup winner Washakie is seeking out their fourth consecutive win but has a lot of work to do from barrier 14.

Mr Feelgood has suffered the most in the barrier allocations, drawing the far outside barrier 15.

Smart Victorian pacer Tanabi Bromack, trained by Keith Cotchin, is another last start winner who will race off the second row in the Hunter Cup.

Winner of the Shepparton Gold Cup last month and more recently victorious in the Horsham Pacing Cup, which earned them exemption for the Hunter Cup, Tanabi Bromack has drawn barrier 11.

Two other Group pacing events also highlight the cracker 10-race programme the $30 000 Group 3 4YO Bonanza (Race 2) followed by the other big one, the $200 000 Group 1 Alabar Victoria Derby Final (Race 6).

The BIG6 Hunter Cup will run at 9:30pm (VIC time) as race eight.

2010 BIG6 Hunter Cup Final Field & Barrier Draw:

The ever-improving five-year-old Tanabi Bromac’s ($3.80) early lead was never contested and he went on to cross the line nearly seven metres ahead of Tear It All Away ($15.20) with Notaswethort ($6.50) in a determined third place following their bad start from the barriers, ahead of the $3.50 favourite and last year’s winner I Am Sam in fourth some 12 metres back from the winner.

The Live Or Die gelding trained by Keith Cotchin and driven by in-form reinsman Gavin Lang clocked a mile rate of 2:00.2 over the 2700m standing start event, breaking the track record previously held by I Am Sam by 1.6 seconds. I Am Sam set the track record with his win in the race last year before he backed-up with a second placing in the coveted BIG6 Hunter Cup. The win was Lang’s fifth Horsham Cup victory.

An ideal lead-up to the BIG6 Hunter Cup, Tanabi Bromac now looks well placed to play a significant part in the $400 000 Group 1 feature at Moonee Valley on February 6 from which his Sunday night win has earned him exemption.

Another highly fancied runner in the Horsham Cup, Maffioso ($5.20) finished a dismal 11^th after surrendering their early lead. A vet’s examination after the race resulted in Maffioso being stood down for 30 days.

Also, the great trotting action over the weekend finished up on Sunday at the same meeting with the feature $10 000 Horsham Trotting Cup taken out by long-priced outsider Sharendoo Lass ($19).

2010 Horsham Pacing Cup Results: